Ed Schoeb wrote:......Hi All, I just bought a 73/74 Z1-900 and I have a few questions that I can't find the answers to. Like, 1.) how can I match the VIN numbers on the Frame and the engine to determine if the Engine was the original Engine on the bike? and also 2.) are their any websites to help me to learn about the VIN numbers of this bike....
The frame/engine numbers are not matched on early Zeds (well, on all Zeds actually) ie the frame number is *never* the same as the engine number...........basically the factory pulled frames / engines off the assembly line randomly, for tolerance checks, manufacturing audits, frame checks etc. This put all the numbers out of sequence....eg one of my 1980 Z1000's has Frame number 000065, and engine number 000039, and another one has frame number 00489, engine number 00242...
It is *very* difficult to determine if the engine you have is the original engine, apart from the fact that certain frame/engine number combos belonged to particular model runs.........
Here are some engine/frame numbers :
Z1 - 1973. Engine number range was Z1E-000001 to Z1E-020000
Z1 - 1973. Frame number range was Z1F-000001 to Z1F-020000
Z1A - 1974. Frame number range was Z1F-020001 to Z1F-047499
Z1B - 1975. Frame number range was Z1F-047500 to Z1F-085700
z900A4 - 1976. Frame numbers commenced at Z1F-085701
I don't have the engine numbers readily accessible for the '74-'76 models, but if you check out
this website, you should find all the information you need.
Nice purchase by the way !!
